To The Editor:

In a local paper, a columnist wrote about separation of church and state. In the article, Ken Paulson, president of the First Amendment Center in Nashville, Tenn., wrote “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” I agree 100 percent with the First Amendment.

Where I disagree, is his interpretation of it. He says, “It means that religious principles cannot be taught in America’s public schools because they are run by the government. They are funded by the government, but are run by local school boards and principals.

It is true the government says you have to follow certain rules or the funding could be cut off to your school. So, we need to find legislators that will put the control of funds back to the community’s and local school boards.

My interpretation of the First Amendment is that government cannot make a law saying you must be a Baptist, or a Catholic, or any other religion, but you have the right to free exercise thereof. Therefore the government itself is going against the First Amendment by threatening to stop funds if you exercise your right thereof.

I am not a religious fanatic nor do I recommend teaching religion in every school in the country. But the local community and school boards have the right to exercise “thereof.” With all the disorder and disdain in our schools and communities, I can’t see where posting the Ten Commandments in public places would go against the First Amendment. There is no way you can totally separate church and state, as everyone relies on his or her teachings of religion at some time or another. It just depends whether they were taught by preachers like Rev. Billy Graham or Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Amon Louis Kerns

Lehigh Acres